SENTENNIAL
Sentennial is a very recent introduction, currently produced only in small volumes.Early test market results have been very promising and larger scale plantings are now being developed. The cherry is broad shouldered like a Sweetheart, with an extremely firm, crunchy texture. Sentennial peaks on 9.5 row, and has similar flavour attributes to Staccato and Sweetheart.
Stages of Cherry production:
A good quality cherry begins with a rigorous pruning of the tree each winter. Excessively strong branches are removed, as are branches that are too weak. In this process the tree is opened up to sunlight and the number of remaining fruit buds is brought into balance with the root system's ability to size and sweeten the fruit.
Early in May the cherry trees burst into blossom. A well-pollinated cherry is a well-formed, large cherry, so over 200 beehives are brought into the orchards to pollinate the flowers.
Throughout the months of May, June and July we monitor insects and diseases which threaten our crops, and control these as required. We select the least toxic product available to control the insect or disease in question for consumer safety and environmental reasons.
As harvest approaches and the cherries advance from a straw yellow colour to pink, a constant vigil must be kept against the cherry grower's old nemesis - rain. Rainfall of duration longer than a few hours can cause cracking of the cherry's skin as the flesh absorbs moisture faster than the skin can stretch to contain it. This cracking most often occurs around the stem bowl of the cherry where water pools or on the nose of the cherry where a droplet will form. The main tactics used to combat this threat is to blow the excess moisture off the cherries by means of low flying helicopters and/ or tractor drawn blowers.
As harvest approaches the maturity of the cherries is monitored carefully. A refractometer measures sugar content and harvest begins when these levels are optimized, not before.
A well conceived harvest and packing process is critical to maintain the high quality we have worked all season to produce. Harvest occurs by hand and is carried out from 5 am to 11 am each morning when cooler temperatures allow damage free handling of this delicate fruit. Cherries are carefully picked into totes, which are placed into bins, and then covered in a reflective tarp to keep the cherries cool. Within an hour of harvest each bin is delivered to the packing plant and placed in a cooler awaiting grading. To ensure freshness, it is our policy to sort and pack each cherry on the same day it as harvested
Right from the hydrocooler, cherries are then packed, palletized and placed in the shipping cooler awaiting news of which corner of the globe they are destined for. BFC Growers is a pack and ship operation, with fruit almost always leaving our warehouse within 24 to 48 hours of harvest.
